Page 4 | Training to become a doctor at 26 with 2 children! Is it doable?

Genesys · 2023-09-16T11:25:48+00:00

Hello, I'm looking for advice please 🙏 I'm 26, I'm wanting to train as a doctor, I have 2 children aged 5 and aged 6 months, is it do able? My partner currently is unemployed, but has said he will support me as much as he can, he is looking for work, but I'm worried its not doable! I have never been to uni and I only have 2 GCSE's that are B grade so I'm sure I'd need to gain better grades in Maths and Science to be able to go to uni? I'm actually not sure where to start with this! For back ground I'm a self employed driving instructor, I'm on maternity leave. My son was born with a heart condition that required Open Heart Surgery, I'm interested in medicine anyway but this has inspired me I guess to look at my options before I get "too old" 😫 Thank you for reading!

MariaVT65 · 16/09/2023 17:02

Op with your Bs and Cs, i’d def count that as 4 GCSEs!

If you want to get into the medica field, it would be great to get some pass grades in maths and science as a first step :)

Original poster

Genesys · 16/09/2023 17:10

@MariaVT65 thank you!! 😊 I'm going to look at resitting maths and sciences!

OP posts:

DoughnutDreams · 16/09/2023 17:19

Honestly? Yes, it is possible. For some people.

You may well be one of them but you won't find the answers on Mumsnet. If you are serious, the first task is to find out all of the options available to you, and what you need to do from reputable sources.

People of all ages, circumstances, and backgrounds study medicine successfully but you need to be much more proactive. Explore other roles too. As someone said before, ODP roles can be very rewarding.

Medstudent12 · 16/09/2023 17:30

I’m a doctor. It’s no longer well paid (we’re getting a slight pay rise but new doctors are paid £14/hour). I’d do nursing it’s shorter and easier to get into. You can do things like become cancer specialist nurse. If you want more diagnostics you can become a nurse prac/advanced nurse practitioner. They’re actually paid more than most doctors (hence why we keep striking, they deserve their pay but we are paid much less than colleagues with less training and responsibility than us) and have some degree of autonomy.

Some are even now consultant ACPs, this is very contentious with doctors as they just don’t have the same level of training. But the ones who operate in their own niche and know their scope of practice (aka don’t think they’re equal to a hospital consultant in terms of seniority) are fantastic, and they diagnose and prescribe and can have their own clinics and do procedures. You could do nursing and if enjoy the degree in late 30s when kids grown up do the ACP/ANP masters.

Now when doctors graduate it’s a lottery process and you can be sent anywhere in the country. Nurses and ACPs have more stability, doctors spend thousands on exams and membership to professional bodies. Twenty years ago you’d have earned well to make up for the lack of earnings during uni but those days are long gone.

Original poster

Genesys · 16/09/2023 17:49

@Medstudent12 thank you for this, it's really insightful and something to think about for sure!

OP posts:

Sparklybutold · 16/09/2023 21:21

Medstudent12 · 16/09/2023 17:30

I’m a doctor. It’s no longer well paid (we’re getting a slight pay rise but new doctors are paid £14/hour). I’d do nursing it’s shorter and easier to get into. You can do things like become cancer specialist nurse. If you want more diagnostics you can become a nurse prac/advanced nurse practitioner. They’re actually paid more than most doctors (hence why we keep striking, they deserve their pay but we are paid much less than colleagues with less training and responsibility than us) and have some degree of autonomy.

Some are even now consultant ACPs, this is very contentious with doctors as they just don’t have the same level of training. But the ones who operate in their own niche and know their scope of practice (aka don’t think they’re equal to a hospital consultant in terms of seniority) are fantastic, and they diagnose and prescribe and can have their own clinics and do procedures. You could do nursing and if enjoy the degree in late 30s when kids grown up do the ACP/ANP masters.

Now when doctors graduate it’s a lottery process and you can be sent anywhere in the country. Nurses and ACPs have more stability, doctors spend thousands on exams and membership to professional bodies. Twenty years ago you’d have earned well to make up for the lack of earnings during uni but those days are long gone.

This is excellent advice. I think there is this idea that doctors are earning lots - and some do. BUT, this tends to be because the families themselves tend to be more financially stable and affluent. Medicine has become extremely tough, beyond the understandable scope of the job.

OP - really dig deep why medicine. I have seen many enter the profession because of the status and I have seen this then only add to the ever growing arrogance - they make appalling doctors. This impacts work morale and overall patient well-being. Only recently did a female surgeon report on the grotesque attitudes of her male colleagues. Again this is not all, but it was a very high percentage. I have witnessed and been on the receiving end of lots of sexual and psychological abuse during training, lots which would be arrestable, was it not for the protection and acceptance of ‘thats just the way it is’. Fundamentally, women have to work a lot harder.

I can't regret medicine as it gave me my children (they were born at specific times in my training journey) and I do believe it will add to my private practise as a psychotherapist in terms of actually being able to provide trauma informed care in a meaningful way. I am already working with client's who have been traumatised through the NHS, be it birth trauma, chronic illness or opiate addiction.

OP - take the time to look at all your options. Please don't let the grades you have now dictate your choices or direction. If you need to start again, that's fine. Even if it does take 10 years... Think about the fact you'll still be there in 10 years, but the difference will be ‘who’ you will be. Be it a physio or OT or prescribing nurse or maybe even a doctor. Health care is changing massively and there is a shift away from the doctor being the top dog (although this hierarchy is still very strong in hospitals) but many other health care professionals go on to open there own clinics and have the advantage of there own autonomy without the barriers that can come with the NHS.

Good luck OP with the beginning of your professional journey ♥️

stayingstraight · 16/09/2023 23:00

Dentist here, so a different degree but a similar pathway to get there, and a similar first couple of years at uni. It's really really hard.
you'd need to start from scratch I think. Go back to school of some form, or get a tutor for everything. the subjects that medical schools will be looking at are science based ones, maths etc. You can't just pick up a textbook and self learn.

Your previous results do, unfortunately suggest that you aren't academically suited for this, and you do seem a bit naive.

In saying that, it is so fantastic that you wish to better yourself academically. That's absolutely wonderful and very admirable. Small steps. One exam at a time and you never know where it might lead to

Annaishere · 16/09/2023 23:09

I think you can do it if you’re determined. Good luck

AlltheFs · 17/09/2023 09:54

Tiredalwaystired · 16/09/2023 13:48

Unless you are Lucy Letby you will not kill them.

They won’t all survive perhaps, but it won’t be your fault.

What a strange comment to make.

Show quote history

Doctors take the wrong decisions day in and day out which result in an unnecessary death. It is one of the main reasons they leave the profession and is frequently why they need counselling - it is very hard to live with that.
When you are exhausted and you miss something, when you prioritise the wrong patient, misdiagnose so the right treatment is delayed, send one home that bleeds out and dies etc etc etc. All doctors have “their number”.
It’s no picnic.

TooOldForThisNonsense · 17/09/2023 11:12

AlltheFs · 17/09/2023 09:54

Doctors take the wrong decisions day in and day out which result in an unnecessary death. It is one of the main reasons they leave the profession and is frequently why they need counselling - it is very hard to live with that.
When you are exhausted and you miss something, when you prioritise the wrong patient, misdiagnose so the right treatment is delayed, send one home that bleeds out and dies etc etc etc. All doctors have “their number”.
It’s no picnic.

Show quote history

Indeed. It is not a “strange comment”. It is pretty much what Adam Kay, a former NHS doctor, writes in his own book.

CharSiu · 17/09/2023 11:31

If you already had some basic qualifications maybe but it will take years to study both GCSE and A levels first and then there is the competition for Med school. I was involved with University admissions though not medicine. Would you consider nursing there are access courses available I think with the OU, take a look at that. One of my old school friends so I was only in touch a little rose to the very top of the nursing career path and became a nurse practitioner and was in charge of a walk in minor injuries unit as far as I’m aware. She absolutely loved her job.

Annaishere · 17/09/2023 11:42

Nurses seem to have a much harder job though. They do all the heavy work/ changing bedpans, sticking people with needles etc

BluebellsForest · 17/09/2023 17:08

Annaishere · 17/09/2023 11:42

Nurses seem to have a much harder job though. They do all the heavy work/ changing bedpans, sticking people with needles etc

It's mainly HCAs changing bedpans, turning patients etc.

Basilthymerosemary · 17/09/2023 17:12

Genesys · 16/09/2023 12:49

Oops sorry I've worded this wrong! I have 2 at B Level (English Lit and Graphic Design) and the rest are D Level or below, I have BTEC Level 2 in Retail Management. But still I guess none of these are relevant 😕

You'll need to sit A-levels (Chemistry is a must and normally an A* requirement, with Maths/Physics at A and another A grade subject) or you could look up foundations courses that lead to an undergraduate medicine degree.

TheSweetEndOfTheLollipop · 27/10/2023 08:49

Radiology is well paid, and generally has very good hours, most of their work (not all) is done in day time hours. It would fir well with your lifestyle, good pensions, very transferable depending on where you want to live. I know many nurses who have retrained in this area.

TheSweetEndOfTheLollipop · 27/10/2023 08:49

*fit

MintyCedric · 27/10/2023 09:42

I’m on a FB group about uni as my DD has just started her degree.

Medicine is brutally competitive to get into, let alone the workload required once you’re on the course, but I really admire you wanting to have a crack and it’s obvious that your circumstances must have affected your GCSE results.

I’d say do your research and just take it one step at a time. Retake your maths and science GCSE’s…get some more advice…take your A levels…reassess/more advice. You’re still really young and have lots of options open to you and you sound really determined.

In the meantime, I’d suggest your partner considers options that would allow him to work flexibly as if you do go down the full medical route you will need that ability for childcare.

Good luck!

Robotalkingrubbish · 27/10/2023 09:53

I left school without any qualifications. I didn’t think I was at all academic. As an adult, I went back into education, just to see how I got on. I felt like an imposter. I studied GCSEs and A levels and achieved grade A in every subject. I then did a diploma in nursing, a degree and later a post grad in teaching.

Go for it @Genesys don’t let anyone put you off. 💪